


The One That Stays

by xxCat1989xx



Category: Pentatonix, Superfruit
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 06:18:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10588167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxCat1989xx/pseuds/xxCat1989xx
Summary: They always leave, he's learned.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I love you all.
> 
> Joce, I love you the most. <333

They always leave, Scott learned after his last breakup. There’s always some excuse, and it takes everything in him not to roll his eyes when he hears them.

“I’m sorry. It’s not you; it’s me.” -translation: it really is you, but I think I’m too nice to say that.

“It just isn’t working out for me.” -translation: you aren’t what I expected.

“You’re never at home.” -translation: you spend nine months of the year on the road.

“I feel like I’m competing with your job.” -translation: I want someone who isn’t as ambitious.

And his all time favourite - “You’re always with Mitch.”

Now, that one Scott can agree with. He  _ is _ always with Mitch. But they live together, work together, travel together. They are best friends, housemates, and colleagues, so obviously, most of his time is going to be spent with Mitch. To be honest, Scott wasn’t cut up about that break up at all. Mitch has, and always will, come first, and if people can’t handle that, they know where the door is.

Scott enters their home after his latest breakup, slamming the front door shut behind him, making the glass panes rattle. He drops his bags on the floor, bending over to untie his shoelaces. He kicks them to the side none too gently, watching as they bounce off the wall. Gathering up the bags again, Scott trudges up the stairs, almost walking into Mitch who is waiting at the top, worried look on his face at the amount of noise he’s making.

“Everything okay?” Mitch asks him, reaching to take some things from him. He drapes Scott’s jacket across his arm and takes half of the shopping bags in his hand. “Whoa, you bought a lot.”

“Yeah, everything’s peachy,” Scott snaps back. He pushes his way past Mitch and strides towards his bedroom. He’s shaking out a new shirt to hang it up when Mitch appears in the doorway.

Mitch looks a cross between annoyed and concerned, and it makes Scott feel angrier and guilty all at once. It’s not Mitch’s fault that he’s had a bad day, but he’s the first person Scott has seen since Jackson sat across from him in the coffee shop and said: “We just want different things.” Scott is at a complete loss as to what different things they want. He wanted someone to cuddle with, to make out with, to go home with. Was that wrong?

A friend of a friend of a friend, they clicked instantly, laughing and bonding over a love of Beyonce and fried chicken as they shared drinks at a party. Jackson had asked for his number, which Scott had handed over immediately, and the rest was history. He got on with Mitch and everyone else in Scott’s life, so much so, Kirstie had been teasing about him being ‘the one’. Three months later, Scott was kicked to the curb.

Scott startles out of his thoughts when Mitch snaps his fingers in front of his face.

“Scotty? What happened?”

“Jackson broke up with me,” Scott responds, dropping to sit on the edge of his bed. He fiddles with his hands in his lap. Tears well in his eyes, so fast Scott doesn’t have time to stop them. He’s spent all day being angry, and now he’s stopped to think, an overwhelming sadness sweeps through his body, leaving him a shaking, sobbing mess. He tries to take deep breaths, but he starts choking on air as it gets harder and harder to breathe.

Scott has no idea what he’s doing wrong.

He’s not even that upset about the breakup. Not really. But is it really that bad trying to be in a relationship with him? Is he that unlovable? Is he not worth it? He’s always been confident in himself, not to the point where he comes across as arrogant and egotistical, but Scott knows he looks good, he knows he’s a good guy. Obviously, it isn’t enough. Or maybe he’s wrong about himself.

Maybe, he’s been wrong about himself all these years, and that’s why no one sticks around.

Soon enough, slender arms are wrapping around his neck from behind, and Scott feels Mitch’s chest against his back, sharp chin digging into his shoulder. Mitch presses small kisses to his shoulder, whispering words of comfort between every one. Scott grabs onto the arms across his chest and leans back into Mitch, who holds steady as the shaking intensifies.

It takes a while, but eventually, the sobs start to abate, leaving him hiccuping and sniffling, and the shakes ease to pitiful trembles that wrack his body every now and again.

He’s embarrassed that Mitch is seeing him like this, and it takes him a minute or so to build up the courage to turn his head to the side to look at his friend. Mitch hasn’t moved; his arms still holding firm across Scott’s chest, and his knees dig into Scott’s back from where he’s pressed up against him.

“Hey, sweetheart. You back with me?” Mitch whispers in his ear, pressing one final kiss to the spot underneath his ear, sending tingles down his spine.

“Yeah, yeah,” Scott says. He sniffles, reaching a hand up to wipe away the tears that have fallen. “I’m sorry.”

Mitch’s arms tighten for a moment before he lets go. He pushes the remaining bags on the floor and crawls to the head of the bed, leaning back against the headboard. He opens his arms and gestures for Scott to come closer. “Come here.”

Scott pushes himself backwards up the bed and falls into Mitch’s arms, resting his head on Mitch’s chest and clutching the bottom of his shirt, fingers skimming the skin underneath. Mitch huffs out a giggle, and it makes Scott smile; his first real smile since he woke up that morning, not knowing that his day was going to end up being horrible. He runs his fingers back and forth across Mitch’s stomach, feeling the muscles convulse as he lazily caresses the skin under his touch, until Mitch grabs his hand to stop him, lacing their fingers together. He rests them on top of his shirt. Scott nuzzles into his neck.

“Are you okay?” Mitch asks quietly. His other hand is running up and down Scott’s back, and Scott wants to arch into the feeling. It’s nice, but it’s also a lot, trying to fight off the shivers coursing through his body. Mitch must notice his struggle because his hand stops moving. Instead, he pulls Scott closer to his body, so there is no space left between them.

“Am I unlovable?” Scott asks, trying to ignore the lump forming in his throat and the threat of tears again.

Mitch jerks away from him, letting go of his hand, putting enough distance between them that Scott can see the incredulous look on his face. Scott drops his head down and hides in Mitch’s side. He knows that Mitch is going to argue with him, but it doesn’t stop the fear that Mitch is going to leave too, just like everyone else.

“Hey, no, come out from there.” Mitch pushes him so he’s lying on his back. Scott covers his face with his arm. “No, we’re not doing this today. Stop.”

He pulls Scott’s arm away and Scott blinks up at his friend. Mitch’s lying on his side, propped up on his elbow. He looks so distressed - and a lot confused - by what Scott has asked him that Scott’s tempted to take it back, but he won’t - Scott would really love to know the answer to that question. And Mitch is his best friend, and obligated to tell him the truth.

“Am I?” Scott mumbles. He fixes his gaze on a point somewhere over Mitch’s shoulder.

“Scotty, why the hell do you think that?” Mitch responds softly.

“Because no one ever sticks around. There was Tom, who lasted a few weeks, and Tony, who lasted six months and broke up with me while we were on tour. Alex?” he adds on tentatively; it’s not really one he wants to focus on. “Pick one; all of them had good reasons to leave.”

“They were all assholes who wouldn’t know a good thing if it slapped them in the face.” Mitch runs his hand down Scott’s arm until he reaches his hand, lacing his fingers through Scott’s from the back and resting their clasped hands on Scott’s stomach. It’s a nice weight; reassuring and grounding in equal measures. “Sweetie, you are the kindest, sweetest, most beautiful person on the planet. If these idiots can’t see that, that is their problem, not yours. You mean so much to me, and a lot of other people. Please don’t put yourself down because of a few rubbish relationships. If I did that every time a relationship failed, I’d be a wreck.”

Mitch drops his head down to rest on Scott’s shoulder. The hand he was resting on goes up to mess with Scott’s hair, making Scott hum at the feeling it invokes, goosebumps erupting all over his body. He presses a kiss to Mitch’s temple.

“No one is good enough for you anyway,” Scott slurs out, the fingers running through his hair paired with his sore eyes are making him sleepy, and it takes every reserve of energy he has to keep his eyes open.

“You’re sweet, baby, but I’m not going to be a lonely, old spinster for the rest of my life.” Mitch chuckles, kissing Scott lightly on his neck. The puff of breath that follows makes Scott squirm. Mitch pulls his head away, chuckling again.

“Never lonely,” Scott replies, “I’m always going to be here.”

“Then, what makes you think you will be alone? Shit, Scotty, I’m never going to leave you. You’ll always have me.”

Scott rolls to face Mitch, unlacing their hands. He puts his on the side of Mitch’s face, rubbing his thumb over his cheek. When Mitch bites his bottom lip, Scott pulls it away with his thumb. He looks into the eyes of his friend; his gorgeous brown eyes that make Scott feel warm and happy. They always tell Scott exactly how Mitch is feeling and now is not an exception.

“And I’m not good enough for you either,” Scott whispers. He shuffles his head closer to Mitch’s and stops when Mitch’s gaze flicks down to his lips.

It’s always been a joke between them and the rest of the world, the will-they-won’t-they get together. It’s never occurred to Scott that the reason why no one stays is because the person he’s actually destined to be with has been in front of him all along. Now, it suddenly all makes sense, and Scott starts to wonder if he hasn’t just been lying to himself all these years.

Mitch’s tongue swipes over his bottom lip, and then he’s moving closer, pressing his lips against Scott’s in a chaste peck that leaves Scott breathless and aching for more.

“That’s a lie,” Mitch retorts, just as quietly, before diving back in and letting Scott know exactly how loved he is.

**Author's Note:**

> Social media links in bio.


End file.
